Many long-distance lovers have become experts in how tech can augment sexuality.

No commuter couple should go without Skype, Twitter and mobile phones, while sex toys can take the repetitive stress injury out of a long-distance affair.

But it's not much of a stretch to think that there's a bigger need (read: market) for "tele-amore" devices than there ever will be for teledildonics (online sex toys controlled by a lover from anywhere in the world). And yet we don't have a lot of options when we're looking for devices designed to arouse our emotions.

Not everyone is comfortable enough with both sex and computers to get internet-enabled vibrators working, but we all want to interact with our partners in special ways. Despite the frenzy around social media applications, we still don't have sensual devices that extend that functionality beyond virtual space.

All it would take is something like the Ambient Orb hooked up to a desktop dot to get my heart racing.

Joseph Kaye, a Ph.D. candidate at Cornell University studying human-computer interaction, developed the Virtual Intimate Object, or VIO, to study the effect of low-bandwidth applications on long-distance intimacy.

The VIO is a dot that sits in your system tray (Windows) or desktop (Mac) and monitors an identical dot on your partner's computer. When your partner clicks his or her dot, yours fills with color; as time goes by without a click, the color slowly fades until the circle is just an outline.

In Kaye's 2004 study (.pdf), five long-distance couples kept journals of how often they clicked the VIO and how using it made them feel. He notes that while he originally thought of the VIO as the source of intimacy, he realized that the journals quickly became an integral part of the experience for the couples.

Just as dancing leads to necking which leads to spanking and then to the oral sex, what was enough on day one was merely adequate by day five of the study.

By week's end, participants had several suggestions for additional functionality: a choice of colors, the option to play a sound, and the ability to replace the circle with their own set of graphics. They had become emotionally engaged not just with their partners, but with the application.

If you can get all that from a 2-D dot, think what you could do with an object you can touch.

Unfortunately, the closest thing I can find to that type of technology for consumers is the Nabaztag rabbit, a wireless device that connects with other Nabaztag rabbits over the internet. From a strictly romantic standpoint, they one-up the Chumby and the Tux Droid in that the rabbits can "marry" each other, so that when one partner moves their rabbit's ears, the paired rabbit's ears move the same way.

Chat acronyms, make way for the semaphore signs of love.

The Nabaztags are excruciatingly cute. I've wanted a set for years, but they weren't specifically designed for suitors. (Nor are they the seamless technical experience they claim to be, apparently: The Nabaztalk user forums provide a sobering counterpoint to the Nabaztags' slick product marketing.)

The human-computer interaction folks at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology seem to understand the connection between technology and emotion, but their clever projects -- like the Lover's Cups that light up when a far-away partner takes a sip or the Mutsugoto interactive art bed -- have yet to break free of academia and museums.

Gadgets like teledildonics and sex machines that stimulate the body but shouldn't be used at work or in public only go so far. Sex tech doesn't have to be explicit to be effective: If you and your distant partner have been together long enough, you realize that tech that fosters intimacy, playfulness and common experiences has a much greater impact on the quality of your union than just having orgasms now and then.

I want to glance at the shelf and see an object glowing warmly because someone special sent me a message. I want to let someone know I'm thinking about him, simply by stroking my fingers over a smooth surface.

I know I'm not the only one who wants to interact through something sensual and swoopy and erotic that has no connection to business, chores or taxes.

I want my ambient intimacy object. Are you listening, developers? There's a mountain of money to be made keeping long-distance lovers connected in our increasingly complicated world.

See you in a fortnight,

Regina Lynn

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Regina Lynn is the author of Sexier Sex: Lessons From the Brave New Sexual Frontier. She blogs at reginalynn.com.

For years, architects have gone to great lengths to protect their buildings from marauding skaters. But as aesthetic trends move toward folded planes that transition seamlessly from wall to ceiling and back to wall, designers have been looking to their former adversaries for a lesson in flow.

"We have this fascination with buildings becoming topography," says Alejandro Zaera-Polo, a partner at London's Foreign Office Architects, "and skateboarders have that physical experience." So for a park in Barcelona, his firm extended paving stones up the sides of small hills—to shield vegetation from salty sea breezes. At least that's what it told city officials. But skaters got the message. The resulting quarter-pipe landed on the March 2006 cover of Transworld Skateboarding.

Architect Zaha Hadid shares the love. She wanted her Phaeno Science Center in Germany to be an all-inclusive venue for pedestrians and skateboarders alike. Liability issues prevented skate-park designation—though you'd never guess it from the YouTube videos of pro skaters "visiting" the museum. "We design spaces that are flowing and continuous, and—just by coincidence—skateboarders look for that kind of continuity," Dillon Lin, an architect (and skater) at Hadid's firm, says with a wink.

And though the new Oslo Opera House (shown here) was inspired by the image of two glaciers colliding, the architects at Snøhetta didn't call on glaciologists to help fine-tune the details. They enlisted real experts in twisted planes: skateboarders. "We spoke to them about surface textures and the areas they prefer," architect Simon Ewings says. His firm followed up the conversation with a statement in stone.

Snøhetta used different finishes of marble to guide skaters looking for rideable surfaces. Acoustically sensitive parts, like above the auditorium, got rough marble that's unpleasant to wheel over. But other areas silently beckon skaters. Surfaces rise up all over the place to become ledges, curbs, and benches—like the jagged facets of a glacier (or skate park). One particularly tempting spot is a 3-foot-wide railing of smooth stone. Snøhetta architect Peter Dang is, ahem, absolutely sure it's skatable. "Just make sure to fall toward the inside," he advises.

The new Oslo Opera House is much more than a temple to the vocal arts. It's a palace of thrash, with as many gnarly facets as the best skate parks. Here are some key features and suggested moves.

NEW YORK – Popular technology blog Gizmodo has set up shop in a Manhattan art gallery to showcase some of the rarest and most intriguing gadgets from the past hundred years or so, including never-released Apple prototypes, the first Sony Walkman, a flying aerial surveillance camera and more.

The Gizmodo Gallery opened Thursday at the Reed Annex (151 Orchard St.), but we snuck in Wednesday night to photograph the most fascinating stuff on display here. The show runs through Sunday afternoon, giving New Yorkers, tourists and gadget freaks a chance to gaze upon important pieces of our technological history, and interact with some more recent gadgets.

Nico Reyes of the Reed Annex sits blissfully unaware of the Draganflyer X6, a flying surveillance device that "makes crane shots obsolete," according to its creators. That may be the case, but we can't fight off our initial impression that this could be the last thing we will ever see.

With an expert at the remote control, the aerial carbon-fiber shutterbug navigates tight indoor spaces with ease according to Gizmodo editorial director Brian Lam, who said the beast is capable of holding steady in winds of up to 18 mph. A "failed motor logic" system keeps the system in operation even if two of the motors crap out.

Lam said the Draganflyer X6 accepts a night-vision camera or HD camera in addition to the vanilla flavor, and communicates its location to the remote using a GPS. As great as this gadget is for filmmakers and photographers, its potential application as a weapon is a bit worrying in a Terminator sort of way.

Here's the portable audio player that started it all: the original Sony Walkman, on loan from Sony's archives in Tokyo. Initially panned by critics, the Walkman became a worldwide sensation, eventually selling 340 million units.

Oddly, the device that kicked off the portable-audio revolution includes two headphone jacks for sharing music — surely, unintentional prescience on the part of Sony, which could never have predicted the later connection between portable music formats and music sharing.

Model Alyssa Miller holds the original-model Walkman.

Legendary Silicon Valley design firm Frog Design lent Gizmodo a couple of Apple prototypes to display, including this MacBook Tablet mock-up, modeled here by Paulo.

Apple and Frog Design conceived this prototype using their Snow White design language, according to Gizmodo's Brian Lam. Although this portable tablet computer never saw the light of day, echoes of its design can be seen in the Apple IIc.

Atari never released a portable version of the Atari 2600 game console, but if it did, it may have ended up looking a lot like this Atari 2600 VCSp, seen here in the hands of writer Lisa Katayama.

The Atari 2600 VCSp is the work of hacker extraordinaire Benjamin Heckendorn (better known online as Ben Heck). This model is the first Heck ever made; he went on to build scores of vintage gaming mods that earned him a following among geeks and fans of vintage gaming.

This double-sided MIDI controller allows musicians to build loops of sound by pressing LED buttons arranged in a 16-by-16 grid.

This video explains how it works, but the gist is that you control which loops play, and when they start and stop, by activating and deactivating the lights.

Unlike some of the other gear on display, the Tenori-On will be playable by gallery-goers who can listen to their own performances through a pair of headphones.

Gizmodo’s Brian Lam told us that the original Dyson vacuum cleaner was initially crippled in the U.S. market because manufacturers were worried it would cannibalize the multimillion-dollar market for replacement vacuum bags.

Luckily for inventor James Dyson, this version of his design was manufactured in Japan starting in 1983, giving Dyson the financial wherewithal to start making them himself. Twenty five years later, the descendents of the original Dyson are probably the world's most coveted model — itself something of an accomplishment. Who would have predicted that vacuum cleaners could become such a hot topic?

Gizmodo's Matt Buchanan wields this original Dyson.

One of the largest Lego sets ever released, this Death Star was destroyed on its way from Lego to the Gizmodo expo. Luckily, the company introduced Gizmodo to Lego enthusiast Jonathan Lopes of Brooklyn.

The self-described "Lego nerd" arrived on the scene to perform a reverse Luke Skywalker on the Death Star, rebuilding it in time for it to be displayed Thursday morning — no small feat, considering that it's made from 3,800 pieces and that he worked only from a picture of the fully assembled version.

Another Apple prototype loaned to Gizmodo by Frog Design, this early '80s conception of an Apple phone featured a handset and a monochromatic screen and stylus, allowing the device's potential owner to sign checks electronically over phone lines.

When Apple finally released its first phone in 2007, it didn't even come with a stylus, and the screen was much smaller.

Gizmodo's Matt Buchanan picks up the handset.

One of the most useless pieces of electronics we have ever laid eyes on, Thanko's USB tie and gloves provide you with heat or cool when they're connected to your computer's USB port — perfect for commuting and outdoor sports, assuming your USB cable is long enough.

The gloves heat up, while a compact fan located in the necktie's knot generates a gentle breeze — worthwhile in theory, if not in practice. As Gizmodo's Matt Buchanan points out, "All USB gadgets are awesome in some way."

When this Bell Labs Picturephone debuted at the 1964 World's Fair, many of those who saw it in action, paired to an identical model in Disneyland, probably thought that every phone would feature video by the year 2000. They were close; instead, nearly every modern computer is capable of live videoconferencing, while home phones still largely resemble the models of the past.

A 1956 version of the Picturephone was capable of transmitting one picture every two seconds. This one apparently improved on that frame-rate by adding another two lines to the connection. This (nonfunctional) unit was borrowed from the AT&T Archives and History Center.

Adam Lam uses the Picturephone pictured here to attempt contact with gadget freaks of the past, or so we imagine.

Goggles that let you watch video on a little virtual screen have been around for years, but many of them are plagued by poor image quality, low resolution and headache-inducing optics.

This pair, from the widely respected camera-lens manufacturer Zeiss, is an exception, with 640x480 resolution and an individual diopter for each eye that allows eyeglass-wearers to use the goggles. Battery life is four hours — enough for all but the longest films.

In this shot, Gizmodo's Matt Buchanan watches a video stored on a video-capable iPod Nano.

We wondered why two hunks of red foam and metal were included in the gallery, until Gizmodo editorial director Brian Lam took a break from overseeing the construction of displays to demonstrate them.

With each step, a thunderous, robot-stomp sound emanated from his slippers, and by the end of his demonstration, we were convinced that they did in fact belong in the gallery. Sometimes, technology is as much about whimsy as it is about scientific progress.